Car fun

Today my hunny had taken the day off in order to go with the kids to the annual AWANA race day. Shelby and Bryce and painted and decorated their cars and were ready to race. We hopped into the car and although the engine turned over, the van wouldn't start. Mmm... Hunny turns to me and asks the obvious question (you know I'm forgetful!), "did you forget to put gas in?", to which I replied I had remembered-yellow dummy light very helpful! Where to go from there? He checks a few things, then calls his dad. They do a troubleshoot together over the phone and determine it's probably the fuel pump. Ok, so where's the pump? Googling, we find the spot. Of course it's in the middle of the van under the carpet (in gas tank). His brother shows up and they double check everything and come to the same conclusion. So, off they go to Auto Zone for a new pump ($100+) After some jury rigging (can't find anything online to show HOW to take the old pump out) and 2 hrs later, they replace with new pump. Steve (brother) inserts the key to start the engine. It still turns over, but does not start. He tries about 5-6 times and notices that the little green key light is blinking. We check the owners manual. It says that our key with the electronic chip is NOT recognized, and therefore not starting. ARGH! 45 min later Pop-a-lock dude confirms-key is going bad. Not that it was a bad day, but I could have found a much better way to spend the $250 we ended up spending in car. After all said and done, I checked the owner's manual troubleshooting guide, and it said to check to see if the correct key was being used. (Of course it was, I just used it that morning!). Maybe they should have mentioned that the key could possibly go bad. Or maybe we should have looked for the little green light.
Anyway, to combat the tears shed over missing race day, I had to promise a trip to Chuck-e-Cheese....a very expensive day indeed:)